Teacher resilience and job satisfaction

This research focused on understanding the potential of a relationship between teacher job satisfaction and level of resilience. The CSMpact survey was administered by the school district, and the researcher used the results to identify the three schools that ranked highest in teacher job satisfaction. The Composite Resilience Survey was administered to the teachers in those schools for the purpose of measuring their level of resilience. This instrument was developed by combining 12 items validated to measure career resilience from the Career Motivation Survey with 4 items validated to measure career resilience from the Career Commitment Measure and demographic information. Participants in this study were 123 elementary and middle school teachers. The results were analyzed through a number of statistical tests.; Results of the study demonstrated that the level of resilience was statistically high for the teachers overall. When the data was disaggregated by the independent variables of school location, gender, ethnicity, age, number of years teaching, and number of years in current school, the mean resilience score for each subgroup was also significantly high. The findings further showed that no relationship existed between any of the independent variables. The greatest variance was found between the subgroups in teacher age and number of years in current school. However, the only difference statistically significant was for teachers 55 or older who had a mean resilience score statistically higher than their other resilient peers who are 27 to 35. In looking at the data regarding number of years teaching, teachers at the beginning and endings of their careers posted higher mean scores than those in the middle of their careers. But the differences were not deemed statistically significant.; These results provide educators with a basic understanding of the potential of resilience as an important factor in reducing stress and increasing job satisfaction for teachers. Previous research has clearly demonstrated that schools are critical in helping at-risk students reduce mitigating life circumstances and become successful, productive adults. However, there has been little attention paid to teachers who are seriously at-risk due to the nature of their profession and the increasing pressures of local, state, and federal requirements. Based on the results of this study, it is important for school administrators, teachers, and university professors to realize the importance of the construct of resilience in helping teachers take the difficulties associated with their jobs and transform them into positive challenges and opportunities for personal and professional growth.